NEWS RELEASE: Website Launch for High-Speed Rail Training Center in Selma

Sep 9 2020 | Fresno County

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) and the City of Selma are ramping up recruitment efforts for the first cohort of the Central Valley Training Center Program by launching its new website. The website will allow students to easily review the training program’s qualifications and sign up for classes scheduled to start on Oct. 5.

The training center, located in the City of Selma, will provide pre-apprenticeship classes and hands-on construction industry training for residents across the Central Valley looking to work on the nation’s first high-speed rail project. The training center and its programs are aimed at serving veterans, at-risk young adults, minority and low-income populations between the counties of Fresno, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Madera and Merced.\

For more information about the Central Valley Training Center and its program, visit http://cvtcprogram.com/

“The Authority is committed to putting people to work and giving them the tools and training needed to succeed on the construction site,” said Henry R. Perea, Authority Board Member. “Selma Mayor Louis Franco and his Council were instrumental in creating the Central Valley Training Center, along with our Building Trades partners.”

“It’s exciting to see that we are one step closer to opening the Central Valley Training Center doors. This training center has the ability to transform the lives of Selmans and families throughout the Valley. Working with high-speed rail shows our commitment to investing in the future of our community,” said Mayor Franco.

In partnership with the local Building and Construction Trades Council, Fresno County Economic Development Corporation and Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, the training center will provide students 16 weeks of customized classroom instruction to help fulfill the labor force training needed for the high-speed rail project.

“Our workforce is growing and moving forward. Every trade is increasing their apprenticeship programs because people are asking for these opportunities,” said Chuck Riojas, executive director of the Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings Building Trades Council. “The Central Valley Training Center is part of it. This effort is a convergence of momentum happening across the state, within all trades and labor unions, and high-speed rail is helping make it a reality in the Central Valley.”

Strict physical distancing measurements will be enforced while providing students hands-on shop training and instructional courses taught by skilled craftspeople in the trades. Industry-specific certifications, along with job placement assistance will be provided to all graduating students of the program through coordination with the high-speed rail project and its contractors.

Currently, nearly 1,100 workers are dispatched on an average day to 32 active construction sites between Madera and Kern counties. Since the start of construction, more than 4,300 construction workers have been dispatched to work on the high-speed rail project.

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